Roses for a raised bed

Hi All,

newbie on here and I'm keen to learn more about gardening so I can implement some of the ideas in my head

I have an 11metre raised bed which is south facing with a row of Connifer hedges behind it. I would like to plant a Hydrangea Annabelle (Incrediball) bang in the middle of this and rose and lavender bushes on either side.

Some questions for you folk if I may...
1) does my idea make sense?
2) how many roses and lavender shrubs could I fit on either side?
3) what rose varieties do you recommend (fragrant and different colours)?

This bed will be well irrigated as I will have a drip line installed on it soon.

Cheers
Rob

 

It sounds as though your bed will be warm and sunny which most roses like and lavender will love, but hydrangea Annabelle likes part shade and moist soil.

How deep is your raised bed? Is it on top of earth and how close is it to the conifers? Conifers are known for taking moisture and richness out of soil.

There are so many roses it is hard to recommend any particular one. A lot depends on your personal taste. Have a look at websites like Peter Beales and David Austin. Floribundas have lots of flowers, shrub roses tend to be bigger, hybrid teas have perfect classic flowers but usually only one on each stem. Do you want scented roses? What colours do you like? I think pink roses with lavenders look lovely.

 

My Hydrangea Annabelle gets quite a lot of dappled sun and is very thirsty, our soil is a heavy loam so holds moisture well. She’s a basic Annabelle but it would make me cautious about any of her sisters coping with full sun. I suppose it depends on how flexible your irrigation system is, enough for Annabelle may be too much for the lavender? However, if you love her give her a go but have a reserve location in mind you can relocate her too.

 

Thanks for your reply Lizzie. To give you a better idea I'm attaching some photos of the bed and its location.
The bed is set on top of clay soil and the bed itself is about 40cm deep. I used a sandy loam to fill the bed to counter the clay underneath. It's quite close to the conifers but I will have regular irrigation on the bed.
Does it make sense to mix lavender and roses since lavender like dry soil whereas roses, and hydrangea, like moist rich soil?
I get what you mean with rose varieties I was a little vague there! For now I think I need to decide the shape of the rose plant i.e. shrub vs bush (or are they the same?).
Colour wise I was thinking yellow and pink as like you say, these would mix really well with the lavender.

 

This is what I was worried about. I'm still building the irrigation system so I can tailor it to suit. Perhaps I could have roses either side of the hydrangea so the lavender is a bit further away.

 

From experience, I would say a hydrangea in a raised bed will require a lot of TLC, eg watering twice a day in hot weather. If the bed is sunny, possibly more. Hydrangeas have shallow roots and heavy watering requirements. That combo makes raised beds, which are always drier than ground level soil, a tricky location for them. It can be done ... but ...

 

You've not mentioned your location @robmif . That makes a huge difference to conditions, and what will manage or thrive without too much intervention.
If you're having to put in irrigation systems, it suggests you don't have decent, regular rainfall, and/or moisture retentive soil, which won't be so good for hydrangeas and roses. Just adding more soil on top of clay doesn't always work either. It's organic matter added well before planting anything that helps more than anything.

The border is very narrow in your pix. If the border is also protected by the hedging, and then prevents rain getting in [very possible] that also has a big impact on what you grow. As it's south facing, it's likely to be drier.

 

Yes sorry forgot to mention I'm in Kent and that border is well shielded by the conifers which on the flip side makes it drier. The irrigation is definitely needed as I don't have time to water every day and the lawn definitely needs it.

 

I did wonder - the grass looks unbelievably dry!
I'm afraid if that was mine, I'd be planting things that like drier, hotter conditions, rather than constantly irrigating, but if you're intent on the shrubs/roses, it's worth making the bed wider, and also adding a lot of rotted manure etc. I think they'll struggle otherwise.
The conifers are going to take up a lot of the water from the irrigation system too. A raised bed will always drain more freely too.

 

The hedge looks huge and the bed looks narrow. How much sun for how much of the day does the bed get? It's surrounded on 3 sides by hedge. The hedge will probably stop some of the rain getting in, it's very close to the bed. Sorry to sound unenthusiastic.

 

It does look very narrow for roses, you'd need about a meter at the very least to accommodate them. But can imagine it could look great if you went the Mediterranean plant direction but can imagine it would be challenging to create a balanced display if half of it will be shaded by the hedge. All depends what you want it to look like, do you want foliage contrast by using silver leaves plants or what to keep the deep green look? At least it's a good time to think it through before spending any money on plants. I can imagine a few Choisyas looking great there.

 

As others have said, roses and a Hydrangea are going to be difficult to grow in that location. It looks as if the raised bed is a new one and you are unlikely to want to make it deeper at this stage. The dry soil and sunny location, plus dark green backdrop would be ideal for lavender, perhaps several different varieties, Salvias, Erigeron and Nepeta. There are also many varieties of ornamental grasses that won't mind those conditions like Stipa tennuissima and Calamagrostis Karl Foerster and they won't require regular watering once established. Euphorbias are also good shrubs for difficult places, many are evergreen and they provide interest early in the year with their acid green flowers. Phormiums are another possibility to provide a contrast in foliage and habit. They can easily be divided when they start to outgrow their space.

 

You took the words out of my mouth @Plantminded … I was just going to suggest a very similar selection of plants .., especially Calamagrostis Karl Foerster.
I also thought possibly perovskia?

 

Thanks for all the inputs guys...really appreciated! Looks like I need to rethink my plan here.
For more info, the bed will get a lot of sun as it is south facing and pretty unobstructed. I'd say it starts getting shady from around 4pm or so during the longer days. I would like to plant a Magnolia in the middle of the lawn in-front of the bed but I doubt that will cast much shade...for the next 10 years at least

I do like the idea of a mix of Lavender as I really love it but would like to contrast it with other flower colours. I must admit most of the plants that have been mentioned I know very little to nothing about so I've been googling a bit.

I like the look of Euphorbias and Coisyas. I must admit I'm not a huge fan of ornamental grass but I'm not discounting it either as I don't know enough. At the moment I'm struggling to build a picture of the whole bed in my head!

 

As you asked about roses in particular, I feel somewhat duty bound to reply, but I have 2 suggestions.
The border seems to me to only serve as a useful path to trim your beautifully manicured hedge, which surely must need shearing, what twice a year? I wouldn't like to be weaving in and out of thorny roses or stepping over plants to trim it.

If you do insist on planting it up, I would have to maintain symmetry there with the hedges, in that I would want to plant just one type as a hedge within a hedge. If you mix it up with one of this, one of that, and 3 of something else, it will look awfully itty bitty to my eyes.

Rose suggestion if you want to go down this route and can afford the expense.
'Kew Gardens', is a thornless shrub rose - very handy that - which is offered as a hedging rose - too late for this year except as potted roses. I think 5 roses about 5 feet apart would be enough. As this rose has a wildish look - just 5 petals - it is low in water requirements, flowers well in shade and can be sheared down like a hedge in Spring to about 1 foot. It does not need fancy pruning, watering or fussing over, and top it all, flowers from May to November, non stop.

Kew Gardens®

..best of luck with whatever you do.. and that would include the cheapest option of a single row of annual, one colour, one type right across. Very cheap, very cheerful, no trouble.